Wire rope center



Feb. 14, 1939. swo AL 2,147,118

WIRE ROPE CENTER Filed Jan 15, 1938 'hwenfarst' FEfl/VK H ELL5WOETH 40d6/1424 E5 14f WfiLKEB.

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Patented Feb. 14, '1939 .WIRE ROPE CENTER Frank H. Ellsworth Worcester,

Steel and Wire Comp poration of New Jersey and Charles W. Walker, Mass.,assignors to The American any of New Jersey, a cor- Application January15, 1938, Serial No. 185,225

Claims.

This invention relates to wire rope, and particularly to the fibrouscenter used in conjunction with certain types of the same.

A properly made fiber rope center provides 5 a flexible, uniform, firmsupporting means for the outer rope strands. This serves to keep thestrands apart and prevent their rubbing on each other under normalloads. Any lack of uniformity in the center makes for acorrespondingirregularity in the outer rope contour and, because suchsurface irregularities provide points of extreme wear, the rope centershould be uniform. Furthermore, the center-must be capable of sufilcientelongation to compensate for the stretch of the rope under load, and itmust be elastic enough to provide sufficient resiliency when loaded toreturn the strands to their normal position when the load is released.Finally, a fiber center should be lubricant-absorbent to a suflicientdegree to permit the storage of enough lubricant to keep the rope wireslubricated when the rope is in service.

Usually, such centers are made of vegetable fibers such as the abacafibers which include a hemp, Java, sisal, jute, etc.

It has been found that vegetable fiber rope centers are easily attackedand disintegrated by acids.- Under certain natural conditions, wireropeis subjected to acids sufiiciently concentratso ed to completelydisintegrate fibrous rope centers ofany abaca species. Thus, ropes usedfor oil well drill lines and ropes employed in contact with acid minewater fail prematurely because their centers collapse through becomingdisintegrated.

The present invention is based on the discovery that animal fibersresist the action of acids in such concentrations as would charmaterials of vegetable source, and that animal fibers can 40 bemanufactured into rope centers having the physical requirementspreviously Therefore, the present invention may be said to be a wirerope having a center made of animal fiberor, more broadly, asconstituting wires laid over animal fiber. This last is advanced becausein some cases assemblies which might not be technically termed ropes mayutilize the invention to advantage, and also because certain types ofrope include fiber strand centers as well as fiber rope centers.

Any animal fiber with sumcient serrations to permit the fiber beingfelted, and any animal fiber of sufiicient length to be spun, may beused as the rope center. Thus, felted wool rope or cord, spun wool ropeor cord, silk cord or rope,

or any continuous strand fabricated in any mannerl from fibers of anyanimal source are applicab e.

. A specific example may be a wire rope having a center made of animalfiber, such as wool, feltoutlined.

ed into a mass of suflicient elasticity to properly support the cablewires, and with an elastic limit sufliciently high to prevent itspermanent deformation when the cable is loaded to the limit for which itis designed, this center being lubricant-absorbent and more acidresistant than a center of vegetable fiber. In other words, a

wire rope center may be made of animal fiber to possess the sameadvantages as accrue from the use of vegetable'fiber and which is, inadditien, greatly superior to the latter respecting its acid resistance.

Specific examples of the invention are illustrated by the accompanyingdrawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a cross-section of a 6 x 7 wire rope embodying the featuresdisclosed; and

Figure 2 is a cross-section of a 6 x 24 so called 'I-lremp center rope,the hemp centers being substituted by animal fiber centers.

More specifically, in Figure 1 six strands of seven intertwisted wires Iare hellcally laid over an animal fiber center 2 possessing thecharacteristics described. In Figure 2 six strands of twenty-four wires3 are hellcally laid over animal fiber centers 4, these strands beinghelically laid over an animal fiber rope center i. The invention mayobviously be applied to any stranded wire construction requiring afibrous, 'center. c

We claim: 1. A wire rope havi g a center made solely of animal fiber.

. 2. A wire rope having a center made of wool I beinglubricant-absorbent, more acid-resistant than vegetable fiber andentirely free of the latter.

and a plurality of wires hellcally laid over said center with the latterradially supporting said wires when said rope or strand is tensioned,said center being made entirely of animal fiber worked to possess thephysical characteristics of the usual vegetable fiber center, saidanimal fiber being inherently more acid-resistant than said usualvegetable fiber center and said rope or strand being entirely free fromthe latter.

FRANK H. ELLSWORTH. CHARLES W. WALKER.

5. A wire rope or strand including a center

